Kind words indeed. A few of things, though. First, it was not until September that I had a critical episode. You all have had to deal with MG for much longer than I have had to.

Second, although knowing what I know now, I can see I had MG symptom going back 18 months if not longer, these symptoms were minor and rare. The worst was chronic fatigue, but who isn't tired? My early symptoms mounted to nothing more than an occasional annoyance. It was not until September that if dropped onto me like a ton of bricks.

Third, even now my symptoms are minor compared to others. MG has not had a devastating impact on my life. Many, if not most, of you have it much, much tougher than I do. I know this can change, literally overnight, but I'm still doing the same things now that I did before. If anything, there have been a few positive changers in my life since my diagnosis.

And finally, I've been on a Prednisone high for two weeks, taking 60 MG a day. Let's see where I am when my pusher, pardon me, my "neurologist" starts backing off my drugs to maintenance levels.

Here are my two cats, Boris and Natasha. The black and white is Boris. I got him at the San Jose Shelter in late 2005, when he was little more than a kitten. His hobbies include walking in front of me in a serpentine fashion to control my movement through out the apartment. I believe he was a sheepherder in a former life.

He sleeps less than any other cat I have ever know. He is always watching. I believe he works for the NSA and has been tracking my communications for years. The only time he wants affection is when I'm typing at the keyboard. He come up and plop himself down on my hands while typing, or tries and climb onto my chest.

If he needs to take medication, it is a big fight. But if I should drop one of my medications on the floor, he will swoop in and try and eat it before I can get to it. I thought I could use this in the future by dropping one of his pills on the floor, hoping he would take the bait and think it was one of mine. He didn't fall for it. He just gave me his "what do you think I'm stupid look."





This is my little, loving Maine Coon Natasha. I got her in early 2007 from the Unconditional Love pet rescue operation in San Jose. Since I am away from the apartment working 12 hours a night, or perhaps 24 hours of more on fishing trips, I though it best to get Boris a pal. The Unconditional Love people go into other shelters and take cats that are scheduled to be euthanized and place them in homes. Natasha hobbies include sleeping on my lap when I'm watching TV from the recliner. Back then I volunteered my photography skills to photograph rescued cat. Later it was just more easier for them to do it themselves with the advent of better digital cameras. I will post some of those photos in a new thread soon.

Sometimes we have contests to see who can sleep longer, she usually wins. The first one is when she was just a kitten:





Here are a few of them together:







This next one is one of my favorites. It didn't take Natasha long to find Boris' weak spot.



-Mark-